The invention relates to a ladder having a separate top step that enables the ladder to be packaged in a compact unassembled form that facilitates efficient shipping and transportation in a container. The invention also relates to a method of storing the ladder in a compact container.
There has been a long standing problem in the ladder industry that rolling ladders are difficult to package arid ship. They are built to rigorous industry safety standards that are specified in ANSI 14.7. Rolling ladders typically consist of a welded stair section. Typically the top step of the ladder is substantially deeper in depth than the lower steps. This deeper step allows a larger platform for a user to stand on.
Unfortunately the deeper step makes rolling ladders more cumbersome to package and ship. While the support frames, hand rails and wheels of the ladder may be easily removed for shipping, the deeper top step still protrudes up when the welded stair section is laid flat (see FIG. 4). This increases the shipping container size and makes the boxes difficult to stack for shipping.
Although rolling ladders have been available in the market for many years, the problem of a ladder configuration that will allow for a more compact shipping container has not be solved.